after a long time of begging from my friend, i finally played this game. although it took me a while to continue the very first route, i was delighted and ecstatic when i finished it; it was heartwrenching and it definitely took a spot on my favorite vn lists. minakami's desperateness, his eagerness and tenderness were exhilarating to read. unfortunately, however, the game doesn't come without it's flaws. the second route, kawase's, might not have dethroned minakami's route, but it has its deserved 2nd place spot. not bad, not awful, just nice enough to read. hakase's route is in the 3rd spot in my personal podium- it's good, specially because of hakase, with his delightful personality and perverted charisma, he is definitely one of my favorite BL visual novel characters of all time. however, before hakase's route, i unfortunately had to be treated to hanazawa's, which lacked all the good and interesting writing that the previous route had. the very last route, kaoru's, is feels like just an excuse to fill the game's long run time. nothing is added to the story, and maybe even takes it away from your overall experience from this novel.
if you're haven't played hashihime yet, please do. it's definitely a masterpiece in its own right- just don't be a completionist like me and play the very last route. from a transgressive fiction (reader) point of view, it's nothing more of the same, nothing i've never seen before, however, to the average reader, might be shocking and upsetting. in the bad way. it doesn't add to the story or even fits with the current route's theme- just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
however, i wanna end this review focusing on how life changing minakami's route was. it was the best romance story i've ever read, and it definitely left it's mark on me.